1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus, program and method for motion analysis in an internal body, for analyzing a motion in an internal body by using a tomographic image.
2. Description of the Related Art
An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus acquires a tomographic image of an inside of a target living body while using as a viewing point a probe placed on a surface of the living body targeted for observation. For example, in the case of a circulatory system such as the heart or blood vessels, and any other organ involving a motion, the motion of living body tissues constituting them is observed by using a tomographic image, and functions of these organs are diagnosed.
In recent years, it has been expected that the precision of diagnosis is improved more significantly if a function of the heart or the like can be quantitatively evaluated by the ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus. Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. 2004-121834 proposes an image diagnostic apparatus for acquiring a tomographic image of a subject, specifying a site to be tracked, of the tomographic image, by a mark; extracting a tomographic image which corresponds to the site specified by the mark, and tracking a motion of the tomographic image by the mark.
In the meantime, a motion of a living body local part is influenced by a motion of a distant living body local part as well as a motion of a proximal living body local part. This is because the living body local parts constitute the entirety while they are connected and associated with one another. The above image diagnosis apparatus of Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. 2004-121834 merely tracks a motion of a site specified in the entire tomographic image of the subject, and cannot perform diagnosis excluding an effect of the motion of the proximal site or distant site with respect to the specified site.